United should not abandon Donny just yet – but he has to step up after a barely-visible showing in the FA Cup defeat

DONNY van de Beek always seems to be making the right run at the wrong time, playing the wrong pass when the right one is staring him in the face.

It has happened so many times during the Dutchman’s short United career that two worrying thoughts begin to creep in, as they did for many fans watching Van de Beek frustrate against Leicester on Sunday afternoon.

Maybe Van de Beek is on borrowed time at United, which is the nuclear option admittedly and has only been vocalised by the most knee-jerk of pundits.

The alternative is the rest of United’s squad is simply not on Van de Beek’s wavelength and more attempts should be made to integrate him properly into the side.

The second of the two options is far more palatable for United, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and the supporters, none of whom want to see a £35m talent wasted at Old Trafford.

And Van de Beek does have ability in abundance, as his clever dummy to leave the ball for Mason Greenwood’s goal against Leicester displayed. Okay, it was ironic that the 23-year-old’s biggest impact on the game came in a moment where he chose not to touch the ball, but it was a silver lining nonetheless.

It was still difficult to escape the fact Van de Beek seemed to operate on the game’s fringes, a far cry from the impact his opposite numbers in the Leicester midfield – Youri Tielemans and Wilfred Ndidi – were able to have. That dummy was his one and only contribution. So while

Fred was hustling and harrying around the pitch eager to atone for his disastrous error that led to Kelechi Iheanacho’s opener, Van de Beek was barely visible at all.

He seemed to run into space and never get the ball, seemed to chop back and opt for the safe option rather than play the killer pass.

But United should not be writing him off yet. This is a player schooled in the Ajax academy and one who has impressed at the highest level of European football, the Champions League, and was a top target for Real Madrid before the coronavirus pandemic hit their finances.

In any case, asking Van de Beek to come in from the cold – six weeks since he last started a game for United due to injury – always looked a tall order in a game of this magnitude. Perhaps the fault lay with Solskjaer.

The Norwegian’s selections were questioned by many watching on at the King Power Stadium, including his former team-mate Gary Neville.

“I’m surprised that the team has been rotated so much,” said the former United captain.

“I know he has been doing that, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, but this was a real chance. You think about the semi-final draw that occurred at half time in that game, which meant the winner played Southampton. What an opportunity.”

What an opportunity indeed, not just for United but for Van de Beek to finally silence his army of doubters.

But the debate may have a fairly simple solution, which may seem counter-intuitive – just keep playing Van de Beek.

Whether it’s in the No.10 role that he played against Leicester, instead of Bruno Fernandes (allowing the Portuguese some much-needed rest), or deeper instead of Fred or Scott McTominay, his game-time has to now come more regularly.

United bought Van de Beek with a view to renewing their midfield in the knowledge Paul Pogba would likely be leaving soon.

At the moment he does not look like a player capable of filling those sizeable shoes.